4. BRING CASH; BRING CASH; BRING CASH; BRING CASH; (one more time) BRING CASH -- WE WILL NOT HAVE ATMS, AND WE MAY NOT HAVE ABILITY TO TAKE CREDIT CARDS -- Wifi is spotty at best, and some vendors (including the IBC) have given up on taking cards. Let's turn this into a positive -- lines will move MUCH faster if cash only.

5. WEAR WARM STUFF: Our outdoor bonfire is a go (YIPPY!) and there is a safe amount of space heaters inside, but we can't simply fill the inside space with space-heaters due to concerns like Carbon Monoxide

7. DANCE YOUR EFFING ARSE OFF -- We'll have well over 1000 people at this thing. If we heat that dance floor with moving bodies, then we'll heat that AC Powerhouse up just fine.

FOR BUSERS:

1. ARRIVE BY 7:15, SO THAT WE CAN BEGIN LOADING. BRING YOUR EVENTBRITE TICKET. BUSES WILL BE GONE BY 7:30, SO DO NOT COME LATE.

2. THE INDEPENDENT WILL BE OPEN FROM 5 P.M. UNTIL 7 P.M. WITH LAST CALL AT 6:45, IN AN EFFORT TO ENCOURAGE YOU TO BE EARLY. WE WILL BEGIN LINING PEOPLE UP AT 7 P.M. SO WE ARE READY TO LOAD THE FIRST BUS WHEN IT ARRIVES. BAR MARCO WILL BE OPEN AND WILL BEGIN LOADING ITS BUS AT 7:15.

3. TO RETURN HOME, BUSES WILL BEGIN LOADING AT 1 A.M. PROMPTLY AND WILL LEAVE AT 1:15 A.M. MAKE YOUR WAY OUT OF THE VENUE QUICKLY AND ORDERLY AND FIND THE BUS (OR BUSES) HEADING BACK TO YOUR INITIAL LOCATION.

4. KEEP YOUR TICKET!!!! YOU'LL NEED IT TO CHECK BACK ONTO THE BUS TO GO HOME.

2. THERE ARE SIGNS TO THE CARRIE FURNACE FROM THE BRADDOCK EXIT NEAR THE RANKIN BRIDGE: FOLLOW THEM CAREFULLY.

3. YOU NEED A PARKING TICKET. AN ATTENDANT WILL PARK YOU AND WILL REQUEST YOUR TICKET UPON ARRIVAL.

GETTING DROPPED OFF AT THE FURNACES:

1. WE WILL HAVE A DROP OFF SECTION. TELL YOUR DRIVER (who is presumably named Jeeves and is a highly competent valet) TO EXPLAIN (Politely, and preferably in a British accent) TO THE PARKING ATTENDANTS THAT THEY ARE DROPPING OFF. THEY WILL BE INSTRUCTED WHERE TO DROP OFF. THEN THEY WILL BE CAREFULLY MONITORED UNTIL THEY PULL OUT. IN OTHER WORDS, NO FUNNY STUFF, LEBOWSKI.

We're coming down to the wire for Hitchcock Halloween. If you or any of your friends don't have your tickets or your ride there yet, this is the info you need to know. All tickets available here.

1. Are you going to sell out of general admission tickets?

We're trying really hard not to sell out, and, to that end, we made a decision today to expand the event perimeter to avoid selling out. So, keep spreading the word: the more the merrier. But, tell your friends to act fast, as there are some important transportation ticketing deadlines as per the notes below.

2. At some point, we are going to sell out of Parking, so if you're driving, buy your tickets now and get as many friends in your car as legal and safely possible.

Parking is limited to 500 spaces at the event, and those are going very fast. The tickets are free, so if you're planning to drive, the faster you act, the better.

3. BUS TICKETING ENDS AT NOON ON FRIDAY

This may shock you, but, when it comes to fleets of buses, we don't own; we rent. We can't schedule any additional buses after noon on Friday, so we have to stop bus ticket sales then. If you want to take the bus, then you need to buy ASAP. If you buy your tickets (both admission and bus tickets) prior to Friday at noon, we can schedule as many buses as we need. But, after that point, you're going to have to get to the Carrie Furnaces on your own.

IF WE ARE SOLD OUT OF PARKING AND YOU MISS THE BUS TICKET DEADLINE, WE WILL STILL HAVE TICKETS AVAILABLE (MAYBE EVEN THE DAY OF), BUT YOU'LL NEED TO FIND A WAY DOWN AN BACK. LYFT AND UBER ARE OPTIONS. THE ADDRESS OF THE FURNACES IS TRICKY: HERE IS THE GOOGLE MAPS LINK

We were at the Furnaces last night setting up the lights. You are in for an extraordinary experience. Trust me.

With dusty fingers, I report from the Carrie Furnaces, upon which our crack-team crew of set-designers, carpenters, and cleaners descended this weekend to get to work. One would have to be entirely devoid of soul and character not to experience the visceral emotional reaction to swinging hammers down at the Carrie Furnaces that we experienced this weekend. Building something in that amazing space, where so many iron workers -- many of whom were your relatives and ours -- had bleed, sweat, cried and died before us, is remarkable. Even when our hammers echo across the AC powerhouse, which is now nearly empty, we couldn't help but to be transported to a time when the furnaces were full of workers, equipment, and machines, getting a much bigger job done. That job was building America. Our job is so incredibly trivial by comparison. But, we approach it with the same reverence, as not to do so would disgrace the workers who labored so hard here before us.

We are working hard to throw an unbelievable party for you. Our main bar and DJ stage, which spans the width of the AC Powerhouse is nearly done. I'd love to keep my cool and calm and try to hide my excitement, but IT'S FREAKIN' AWESOME. It's funny: when big corporations try to market to "young people," they shoot a tv commercial of someone photographing an "epic" concert in some warehouse or people drinking crappy macro-brews at an impromptu roof-top party. Everyone's having fun. Everything is cool and seemingly effortlessly so. And the desired reaction is "man, I wish that I lived in a cool place where awesome stuff like this happened so I could use my new smart phone to photograph it." Or "man, if I just drank more budweiser, awesome things would happen around here." Well, we're trying to throw that party, but with no big corporate sponsor, just with a little help from our friends, who all happen to be other small local businesses. It has by no means been effortless and there's no shitty beer or Smirnoff ice (thank goodness). But, I hope (and, after today, I think that I know) that, at this party, you'll have a sense that what you're doing is being part of something special, for the furnaces and the region. And I hope that you can connect back to that same feeling that we've had as we continue to build our set: namely, that not long ago, there were hard working people in this very same place making iron that built not just our city, but our whole nation. We can't compare to the achievements of those workers. But we can help keep their memory alive by throwing one hell of a party and bringing that sacred place alive for one more evening (and hopefully, many more days and evenings to come in the future).

As an initial matter, you don't have to dress to the theme. I personally think that it would be hilarious if every guy wore the exact same gray suit, white shirt, and skinny black tie, a la Don Draper; but, while that would certainly fit the late 50s / early 60s "look," none of us are going to look as good as Jon Hamm.

So, regardless of sex, gender, age, and taste, express yourself that evening -- but you'd be wise to do so within the following two guidelines.

1. Wear "outdoor" shoes. Most of the party is indoors, but even indoors, the terrain can be a bit rough. So wear something that will prevent you from twisting ankles or skinning toes. You can rock that sexy 60s cocktail dress just as well (and a heck of a lot more comfortably and safely) in a cute pair of sturdy flats. as you would in 6 inch stilettos.

2. Dress as light as you'd like, but be SURE to bring something warm to throw on -- Current weather predictions are sunny (yay!) but a low of 39 degrees (boo!). Don't worry -- we're not animals -- we'll have fire barrels in the courtyard and also space heaters in the A/C Powerhouse (which will likely warm up from human heat pretty well too). But, plan to have a couple of layers. No one is going to stop you from coming naked and wrapped in a bloody shower curtain, but be sure to bring a blanket to wrap yourself in when you go into the courtyard.

For your convenience, you can now park for FREE at the Carrie Furnaces, however you'll need to get a ticket at hitchcockhalloweenpgh.eventbrite.com, as parking is limited. All individuals who already purchased on-site parking will be (or have already been refunded). We are discontinuing the Waterfront Shuttle and all tickets previously assigned as such will be transferred to free parking tickets at the Carrie Furnaces.THERE WILL NO LONGER BE A SHUTTLE FROM THE WATERFRONT. We still offer the Squirrel Hill shuttle bus for $5 for those coming from the East End.

Additionally, we are now offering a $5 to/from shuttle from Bar Marco, in the Strip District. The Shuttle will leave Bar Marco at 7:30 (7:15 check in) and leave the party for Bar Marco at 1:15 a.m. Again, these tickets can be purchased at: hitchcockhalloweenpgh.eventbrite.com

If the cancellation of the waterfront loop poses a problem for you because you are unable to park at the Carrie Furnaces for free, please contact us at pete@independentpgh.com and we will issue you a refund or work with you to make additional accommodations.

This party is right around the corner. You've got questions and I've got long-winded announcements. Accordingly, brace yourselves -- I'm going to be bringing you updates on a regular basis, in what we're calling: "A Hitchcock Halloween: Your Questions Answered!" In today's installment, I wax poetic about dancing, tickets, and the death and rebirth of Pittsburgh's industry.

Should I buy my tickets now or wait?

You should ... you MUST ... buy your tickets as soon as possible. Do not wait if you want to guarantee your attendance. Why? Several reasons: First, tickets are going fast. Correction, they're going very fast now, especially after we released this video (People respond really well to beautiful women committing homicides -- just ask Courtney Love!). They're going so well, in fact, that we are likely to sell out soon. HOWEVER, if we are able to sell enough tickets up front, we CAN open up more tickets sales. So, your social/civic duty is to buy quickly and instruct your friends to do the same. Ironically, the more tickets we sell early, the less likely it is that the event will sell out. Tickets on sale here: http://hitchcockhalloweenpgh.eventbrite.com/?aff=ibcblog

Speaking of that Video...

I've had a number of folks ask me about how the hell we pulled off a video of that quality, with our being the drunken imbeciles and all. We didn't -- the extremely talented Jeff Myers of THIS IS RED agency downtown did that video. THIS IS RED does work for people like Coca Cola, Dolby, and, um the Independent Brewing Company. Additionally, to address your inquiries: none of the actresses or actors are single. That cop sure is sexy, but -- sorry ladies -- he's taken!

Can I "shake it" at this party?

Yes. Ohhhhh yes. Like a Polaroid freakin' picture. We're promising the most bad-ass dance floor that you have ever graced. Let me put it this way: if your ass is a paint brush,then its canvass is an industrial dance floor, lined with graffiti, enclosed by 50' high steel beams that form the BASE of a cathedral ceiling, and side-lit with eco-friendly LED lights that provide just enough of a glow so that you can see what you're doing, but not so much of a glow that you can see what you're doing. [drops the mic...walks away].

Is this a "Good" Cause?

Whether you're a moral relativist or a religious zealot, you can agree that this is a "good" cause. Portions of the ticket sales are being donated to our wonderful hosts, Rivers of Steel, who maintain the Carrie Furnaces as a National Landmark. The Carrie Furnaces are the history not only of our region; they're the history of our nation. And as much as the greedy industrialists who exported our iron industry to China would like you to forget that we once made things here, Rivers of Steel isn't going to let you forget. Come treasure these monuments to our prior industrial might, and, in turn, become inspired to rebuild our region with new sustainable industry.

reservations: 412-422-5040

groups of 9+: pete@independentpgh.com

Monday: 5p to 11p (Kitchen open until 10)Tuesday: 5p to 11p (Kitchen open until 10)Wednesday: 5p to 11p (Kitchen open until 10)Thursday: 5p to 12a (Kitchen open until 10)Friday: 4p to 12a (Kitchen open until 10)Saturday: 4p to 12a (Kitchen open until 10)Sunday: 4p to 9p (Kitchen closed; Alaskan tacos by Charlie on the sidewalk)